


The wares of the Merchant of Death

by A_Concerned_Citizen



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: BAMF Tony Stark, BAMF!Tony, Gen, How Do I Tag, I wrote this before endgame, Merchant of Death Tony Stark, Steve is in confusion for a lot of this, Tony and the merchant are mostly separate personalities, and technically it is, but it is just mentioned or implied, but whatever this is fanfiction, it says major character death, so it won't relate to endgame, tony misses peter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-10
Updated: 2020-01-10
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:15:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22202449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Concerned_Citizen/pseuds/A_Concerned_Citizen
Summary: Steve and the others are on Titan, prepared to fight and get the infinity stones back so they can bring back everyone.But a surprise intervention messes up the plan.AKAThe merchant of death decides to take the fate of Thanos into his own hands
Relationships: Mistress Death & Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Tony Stark & Thanos
Comments: 44
Kudos: 758
Collections: In the Dark





	The wares of the Merchant of Death

**Author's Note:**

> So... this is the first fic I'm posting. I have been writing fanfiction for about half a year now but I'm only starting to post now. I have no idea how this works or how it will go so... yeah.  
> This is set on Titan after infinity war and from Steve's POV. Enjoy

Steve walked onto the battlefield. To his left were Rhodey, Natasha, Clint, Thor and Bruce (who had a green tinge to his eyes) To his right were Carol, Scott, Rocket and Nebula. Tony was suspiciously missing, or he would have been. If Steve didn’t know he was flying in from above. Natasha and Clint walked with a fierce determination that frankly scared him. Rhodey and Carol had blank faces and Steve could see the evidence of their military histories in the way they walked. Thor walked like a man with nothing left to lose. Steve would be lying if he said he wasn’t terrified by that. Bruce walked with an ease Steve hadn’t seen before. Scott seemed kinda nervous which, fair enough, he is going to be fighting a huge titan who killed half the universe. Rocket looked like he could kill Thanos with his bare hands for taking his family from him, but the gun he had on his back was rather imposing. Nebula stalked like a predator, Steve could tell that if she was against you, you wouldn’t come out of it unscathed.

As they walked several meters, Steve got his first look at the Titan since earth.

He was a rather regal figure, Steve supposed, golden armour with, frankly, gorgeous patterns and designs cut into the gleaming metal. The vague silhouette supplied by the reddish-orange hue of Titan caused by the ash and _dust_ (How _fucking_ convenient)

The team was completely silent, the mad Titan was silent. The air was thick with tension and Steve was pretty sure you could hear a pin drop.

_Tap, tap, tap_

The faint tapping drew Steve’s attention.

From behind a screen of mist, another silhouette appeared. It looked almost like… No… I couldn’t be… he wouldn’t.

Would he?

It was a rhetorical question, but as Tony Stark walked out onto the barren stone, (WITH NO IRON MAN SUIT WHAT THE HELL TONY!) he got an answer anyway

Yes. Yes, he would.

Tony Stark walked forward, his shoes still tapping away at the rock beneath him, wearing only a business suit and sunglasses. Only, these seemed different from his normal ones, they seemed… darker? Steve couldn’t see his eyes at all.

“Oh shit…”

Steve turned to see who spoke and… Rhodey! Of course! He’s probably worried about his friend. “Tony will be ok” He reassured the Colonel, even if he was doubting it himself.

Then the man surprised him, “It’s not Tony I’m worried about”

“What do you mean?”

“Have you ever heard of the Merchant of Death?”

“No?” Steve asked sceptically, he was about to ask more when he noticed Natasha’s eyes flash with recognition and her face turn a shade paler.

If it had Natasha worried, Steve was curious and fortunately, the red head spoke,

“In the Red Room…” She took a deep breath, talking about her past was hard “They told us stories, of a dark Queen, Lady Death, who sat upon a throne of ash and blood. At her right hand was a man, beautiful, they said. He dealt in death and served the Queen. He stood there with a charming smile that could lull even the black widow in. They told us he had eyes that could view your very soul. They said _, ‘Never deny the Merchant of Death’”_

Steve felt a chill run down his spine but Rhodey’s next words froze him to the core.

_“They were right”_

As Tony continued walking forward, the mad Titan observed him curiously

“Come for a rematch Stark?”

“A Rematch? No, I’ve come to wipe your stain from the universe forever” Tony stated matter-of-factly

“And what makes you think you have the power to do that?” Thanos asked with an amused tone.

“You are courting Death correct?”

Steve figured it was to divert Thanos, or maybe even a joke, but when the titan gave a small incline of his head, he began to rethink that assessment.

“Have you ever heard of her Merchant?” There was an edge to Tony’s voice, Steve couldn’t quite tell what it was, but it had him fearing for the answer.

The way the Mad Titans head tilted in confusion made Tony gave a smirk that held far too many teeth.

“I’ll take that as a no, well you see, Lady Death has a merchant. A person who deals in death, receives payment in souls and then returns them to his Mistress. After a while, the market ran dry, there was nobody left to bargain with the merchant, so Death called him back to her realm, where he stayed for some time.

But his Mistress began searching for a new marketplace, she soon found a peaceful little planet out in the fringes of the universe.

She chose well, for you see,” Tony’s smirk became sharper, deadly. “This seemingly innocent little planet was inhabited by a primitive race. However, they held such emotion. Such hatred and anger. So much in fact that they killed, and they killed, and they killed. Earth had wars in which millions died, famines, droughts, natural disasters. This little planet _worshipped_ death, even if unknowingly”

Steve felt sick and the green tinge to Bruce’s eyes seemed to have spread.

“So, she sent her Merchant to Earth, he inhabited the body of a new born child, he shared the mind with a soul that burned brighter than a supernova and held such intelligence and creativity. Mistress Death couldn’t have chosen better if she tried. The child was destined be a war monger and rain death upon the world. But the child took control, he didn’t want to let blood spill. Eventually, though, he had to take up the mantle. He made weapons and terror surrounded his name. Then they took an unexpected visit to a dark cave in Afghanistan. That was the first time the Merchant had to appear. There was nothing left but ashes. Once the child -now a man- took back control he wasn’t quite the same, the child and Merchant began to join together. They created an identity” Tony’s smirk dropped, and a horrifically apathetic frown took its place, before his next words sent him into an almost hysterical smile.

“And so, Tony Stark was on top of the world”

Steve turned around and puked onto the barren stone. Bruce did the same. Rhodey looked mildly disturbed, but not surprised. Natasha was pale and gripped Clint’s hand like a lifeline. Clint himself didn’t look much better and squeezed Natasha’s hand a bit tighter. Carol masked her reaction but the horror in her eyes was hard to miss. Rocket looked rather shocked but held the same horror as Carol. Nebula had no visible reaction, Steve was rather confused as to how.

“But _I_ let Anthony take control”

Then Steve realized who they were talking to, The Merchant of Death.

“But you see, when me and Anthony became one, I gained some of his humanity, I started to _care_ for some people.

I began to love the people around me, Rhodey, Pepper, Bruce.”

The merchant smirked, wide and sharp, full of teeth and definitely not kind.

“And Peter”

Thanos looked confused “The spider-boy?”

“Yes, but not only that. When you snapped your fingers, Peter died, that was the first time in 5 years, that Anthony let me take full control, that was the first time, in 5 years, that he let me destroy. When you snapped your fingers, and Peter died, that is when me and Anthony agreed to annihilate you” Tony’s smirk was razor sharp “You see, that was the one soul I’m not quite ready to part with yet, that was the one soul my Mistress was content to let me keep”

“But I am serving your Mistress, why should you kill me?” The Titan asked haughtily

“Because that was my kid”

**Author's Note:**

> Uh... hope you liked it?
> 
> Edit: if you liked this go check out Know Your Wares by Origami_Roses because it’s a direct continuation from this and their interpretation is awesome!!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Know Your Wares](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29379291) by [Origami_Roses](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Origami_Roses/pseuds/Origami_Roses)




End file.
